Growing Power & Rainbow Farmer's Coop

5500 W. Silver Spring Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53218 Growing Power

Growing Power founder, director, and former pro-basketball player Will Allen (shown here in baseball cap) left ten years of office life behind in 1982 when he purchased the last working farm in Milwaukee. “I needed the farm,” he says. “It’s so real and so satisfying.” He believes the power of farming can shape lives. Will’s three children, now grown, grew up working the family’s farm alongside their parents. His daughter Erika (also pictured, in front of Will) is now the manager of Growing Power’s Chicago-based projects.

Growing Power is the last remaining registered farm in the city of Milwaukee; it is also a non-profit organization that teaches techniques in sustainable agriculture and provides hands-on training for developing community control over food systems. Particularly, Growing Power makes fresh local produce accessible to food-insecure communities. To date, Will has taught farming and food processing to more than 1,000 students and helped launch more than 25 urban gardens, some in the poorest counties in the U.S. He says, “We’re not just growing food. We’re growing communities.”

Considering the two-acre farm remains located in the heart of the city, it produces an impressive amount and variety of food. Produce includes Swiss chard, salad mix, watercress, various herbs, tomatoes, lemon grass, and water spinach. They also raise tilapia (a type of fish), keep chickens for eggs, and produce their Urban Honey from five hives around back. There are a few urban farm pets, as well: Baby, the cat, has run of the place; some turkeys who, to their good fortune, are past their prime; and a few goats including Oakley, the patriarch.

The Rainbow Farmer’s Cooperative, founded in 1994 under the umbrella of Growing Power, is a marketing co-op that allows farmers to sell their fresh produce and farm products at a fair and equitable price. There are currently 300 member farms across the nation–twenty or so of which are local–producing an array of foods too vast to list. All members are directly involved in developing marketing strategies for their products.

Why is growing organic a priority for you?
Will Allen: I grew up growing food organically. It’s just the right thing to do to grow food without chemicals. It takes healthy food to build healthy communities. Organic food is the healthiest food.

What is your favorite part of being an organic farmer?
Will Allen: Creating the inputs and having control over your destiny. Seeing a positive response from the community and seeing the positive feelings they, the people, get from eating good food.

Why should people buy organic products instead of other options?
Will Allen: It’s been proven that its healthier and it supports small growers and helps develop communities.

What makes your farm special?
The passion that we put into growing the food. The spiritual aspect of putting yourself into growing the food, and working in community with other people.

Where can consumers get your products?
Our food is available on-site at our retail store and at Will’s Roadside Market (5500 W. Silver Spring Drive, Milwaukee). We are also at Chicago’s Green City Market and in various farmers’ markets in Milwaukee. Our market basket program is a CSA (community supported agriculture) that delivers fresh produce year-round. For more information on the Market Basket program, click here.

Trust us: there is a lot to learn about Growing Power! For more information visit www.growingpower.org or call (414) 527-1546.